Sergeant Danny Nightingale pays tribute to wife's courageous campaign

Sgt Danny Nightingale speaks from prison of his wife's courage in fighting for
his freedom

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The soldier has pleaded guilty to possessing an automatic pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition without permissionPhoto: Christopher Pledger

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Sally Nightingale outside the Court of Appeal in London, where she is lodging an appeal for her husband Sergeant Danny Nightingale who was sentenced to 18 months in military detention after after admitting possessing a prohibited firearm and ammunitionPhoto: PA

The voice is trembling, but clear. It is Sergeant Danny Nightingale, speaking from behind bars for the first time.

“I’m just completely overwhelmed. It’s humbling,” he stutters.

Not allowed to contact journalists because he is in an army detention centre, he has, quite by chance, used the payphone in the centre to call his wife, Sally, as we meet in a London hotel.

Mrs Nightingale turns her mobile to speaker phone, and says simply: “Tell everyone how you feel.”

The call from her husband has made Mrs Nightingale beam with delight, because for the first time in weeks they both have hope that he will be freed from the ordeal which has seen him sentenced to 18 months detention despite serving his country as an SAS sniper and medic for more than a decade.

We are meeting on Wednesday of last week and he has just been given the news that an appeal against his sentence will be heard by the Lord Chief Justice in the Court of Appeal, a hearing which could see him freed.

Since The Sunday Telegraph disclosed his conviction and sentence two weeks ago, Sgt Nightingale’s plight has attracted support from politicians including the Defence Secretary, celebrities, ordinary people and even soldiers from America and Australia.

“It’s very humbling to know that so many people believe in you and support you,” he says in a trembling voice.

“Today’s result is fantastic. My feelings are of immense pride in the way that my wife has done me such justice. She has conducted herself with such dignity and utter professionalism since our lives were turned upside down two weeks ago.

“It has been a very emotional period and to now find out that my appeal is going to be heard next week when we expected to wait at least three to four months is just amazing – I am becoming quite emotional.

“The support from the public has been outstanding, something none of us really expected. I still find it very difficult to believe that the public have supported my case and my family in the way they have. I can’t put into words how grateful I am, the support from everyone has just been phenomenal.”

The sense of shock, humility, and love is added to by a letter he has written to his wife from the detention centre, whose words are reproduced today by The Telegraph.

It will be added to Mrs Nightingale’s collection of letters – all the others come from war zones.

Sgt Nightingale’s journey into what is effectively imprisonment – the Army calls it detention – began in 2011, when he was ordered to return from Afghanistan and face allegations that he was in possession of an illegal firearm – a 9mm pistol which had been given to him by “The Apostles”, the Iraqi special forces unit he had helped train in 2007.

Earlier this month, he was sentenced to 18 months detention at the Colchester Military Corrective Training Centre, colloquially known as “The Glass House” to soldiers. His plea of mitigation and evidence that he suffered a severe traumatic brain injury while taking part in a 132-mile jungle marathon in Brazil in 2009, which seriously damaged his memory, appeared to fall on deaf ears.

As the wife of an SAS soldier, Mrs Nightingale, had grown accustomed to living in the shadows, studiously avoiding questions about her husband’s work, where he was based and the countries in which he has served.

Now she is fighting to secure the freedom of her husband who she believes was forced to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit.

“You learn to be very private,” she tells me. “You try not to give anything away. If people ask where your husband is based you say 'Hereford’ and usually most people don’t ask any more questions.

"To go from being very private to being very public has been very hard not just for me but the whole family.

“I didn’t want this [referring to the national publicity] I didn’t feel equipped to do any of this.” But her former life in the shadows ended when she sought The Sunday Telegraph’s help to highlight what she describes as the travesty which lead to her husband’s incarceration.

Her campaign has had support which has left her overwhelmed. Tens of thousands of members of the public, MPs, former military chiefs, and even a host of celebrities have all voiced their support, all sharing the belief that her husband, who has dedicated most of his adult life to serving in the Army, should not be imprisoned.

Last week Mrs Nightingale’s campaign took her to 10 Downing Street, where David Cameron’s personal secretary told her that she was a “brave and courageous woman”, who had the Prime Minister’s “sympathy”.

“Even the policemen guarding Downing Street wished us luck and said they thought Danny’s sentence was farcical,” continued Mrs Nightingale. “His guards at the detention centre have said that they are embarrassed at having to lock Danny up every night – they have real respect for him.

“He’s received over 200 letters of support from as far away as Australia and the United States. Even the US Delta Force [the American equivalent of the SAS] have offered us help.

“Danny is determined to write to them all and thank them. He gets £9.45 a week and he spends it all on writing material, that’s very typical of him.”

By contrast support from the SAS ended the day after he was charged in November 2011.

“We felt very isolated. Danny could not go back into the SAS camp unless he was escorted. He wasn’t even allowed to attend last year’s Remembrance Sunday service, which was particularly difficult for him because his best friend John Battersby had been killed in Iraq in 2007 and the anniversary of his death was coming up.

"That was when Danny usually sees John’s family – that really hurt Danny and I felt so let down.

“I’ve only had two messages from squadron wives. They said they were sorry and were thinking of us and that was it.

“To be honest, I had expected more. Danny was a patrol medic. Had his friends been wounded on the battlefield it was Danny who would save them. But I suppose they have to follow orders.”

Sgt Nightingale’s family are now focusing on the forthcoming appeal. They have more or less accepted that his career in the SAS is over, but it is a price worth paying to secure his freedom.

“I never thought this would all happen so quickly. I don’t want to get my hopes up but I’m starting to think Danny may be home for Christmas.”